Dr. Robert Afra is a San Diego-based orthopedic surgeon who is nationally renowned in sports medicine with expertise in treating shoulder, elbow, wrist, hip, knee and ankle conditions. As the former Chief of Sports Medicine at the University of California, San Diego, Dr. Afra has published extensively in professional journals and books and presented at conferences around the world, where he is considered a pioneer in the study of shoulder, knee, elbow and ankle injuries in athletes and active adults. Dr. Afra is also a specialist in cartilage issues and pain in knee cap disorders; he was named Co-Director of the International Patellofemoral Study Group Conference in San Diego in July 2011. As a sports medicine physician, he has managed and treated complex joint injuries and successfully guided patients back to peak performance levels.

Dr. Afra takes a customized approach to treat each of his patients. He provides comprehensive care to injured athletes, from sprain rehabilitation and muscle and ligament tear repairs to care for broken bones. He regularly cares for children and active adults with injuries to the upper extremities (shoulders, elbows, and wrists) and lower extremities (hips, knees, and ankles). His joint replacement practice consists of shoulder replacement, hip replacement, and knee replacement surgery, including minimally invasive surgery techniques and traditional joint replacement surgery when necessary.

Dr. Afra completed his fellowship training in sports medicine at Boston University, where he treated a variety of elite college athletes in ice hockey, soccer, basketball, field hockey and lacrosse. Dr. Afra was a researcher at University of Hawaii’s Queen Emme Medical Center in the field of muscle and nerve physiology, and was a surgical fellow at the world-renowned Barnard O’Brien Microsurgical Institute in Melbourne, Australia. He has studied microsurgical techniques and the art of plastic surgery. Dr. Afra studied medicine at UCLA, where he also completed his surgery internship. Prior to attending medical school, Dr. Afra worked at the Salk Institute on an NIH research stipend. In 2010, Dr. Robert Afra was selected by the Arthroscopy Association of North America, a premiere sports medicine society, as one of three surgeons to lecture to university faculty in the United States and Canada.